It’s happened. The unthinkable and freakish curse of the Madden has struck Patriot Nation in the form of a Big Gronkowski. But what really is this dreaded curse? Since 1999, every single player on the cover of Madden NFL video games has suffered either an injury or had a horrible season, with only the 3 exceptions being Richard Sherman, Calvin Johnson, and OBJ. With the news that our Franchise Tight End could have a career ending injury thanks to the Madden curse, I thought it'd be a good time to take a look back at the most gut wrenching cases of the curse.

(NFL)

#1 Mike Vick- Remember Mike Vick? Falcons All-Pro QB, attacking and changing the league with his powerful arm and running ability. After a few ridiculous seasons, Vick agreed to be the coverboy for Madden NFL 2004. Sure enough, Vike fractures his arm that year and missed 11 games, and when he came back wasn't nearly as good. Not to mention, he also went to prison for dogfighting within the next few years, and spent some time there…

(waitfornextyear.com)

#2 Vince Young- Also a prolific dual threat QB who seemed sure to have a long and productive NFL career, Vince Young’s pro time was also cut short due to the Madden curse. The exciting young QB came to the NFL fresh off a title year at USC, quickly rose to be a successful QB for the Titans. When approached about the Madden curse on a television show, Young expressed his disbelief in the curse, and dispelled the rumors. However, after signing with EA and becoming the cover in 2008, Young injured his quad. Subsequently, this led to a knee injury ultimately, ending his career.

(People)

#3 Adrian Peterson- One of the most well known running backs in the NFL, Adrian Peterson was rushing towards historic records. Peterson quickly signed a multimillion deal and was a star, especially when he signed with EA to be be cover of Madden 25(anniversary game) in 2014. Can you see where this is going? As we all know, Adrian Peterson was injured all of 2015, had a decent year in 2016, but is currently out for 2017. To put icing on the cake, a year after the cover came out allegations of child abuse starting occurring for Adrian Peterson.

(thenewsdoctors.com)

#4 Rob Gronkowski- It’s almost like the developers of Madden said, “That's a great thing that the Pats have going on with Gronk and the whole tight end passing game thing… it would be a shame if someone were to ruin it…”’ As we all now know, the great Gronk was cover of Madden 17(awesome game by the way) and now he’s injured his back after several amazing seasons. The worst part, Gronk could miss 8 weeks and never be the same player again, and depending on the surgery this could be career ending.

Moral of the story, never root for your favorite player or anyone on your team to sign a deal with the Devil of EA, for it is almost sure to ruin a career. Even now OBJ is starting to hit his mental breaking point. The curse is real.